The present invention relates to a tool and a method of use of the tool for aligning adjacent piping components of a spool of piping components which are to be welded together in alignment with one another.
When welding piping components together, including straight elongate pipe sections or curved fittings and the like, it is important for the abutted piping components to be aligned concentrically with one another in order to form an even welded joint about a periphery of the piping components. It is also important to have a slight gap between the piping components before welding to permit root bead pass material to penetrate between the abutted ends of the piping components. Typically the piping components are manually supported within the required configuration before welding, however it is difficult to properly align the piping components with one another when this task is performed visually.
The use of clamps are known for securement about the periphery of two piping components for concentric alignment thereof, however these devices are generally intended as an aid for a welder to eliminate the requirement of a second person for holding the pipe and are typically not intended for providing proper spacing and alignment of the piping components readily in a single operation. Examples of clamps are found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,039,235 to Prissadachky and U.S. Pat. No. 3,925,854 to McFadden, neither of which are suitably arranged to provide a controllable degree of spacing between piping components. U.S. Pat. No. 5,118,024 to McClure provides a further example of a clamp for piping components in which spacing between the components can be controlled, however awkward manipulation of a considerably complex linkage of threaded members is required in order to do so.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,553,305 and 4,483,059 both to Dearman each provide a tool to assist in spacing of piping components to be welded, however the tool is only adapted for use in piping components in which one piping component is slidably received within a collar at the end of the other piping component. A clamping arrangement is secured on one side of a spacer element for clamping the tool onto only one of the tool piping components so that the tool would not be capable of aligning two piping components which are abutted end to end as is typically required when welding piping components together.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a pipe alignment tool for alignment of two adjacent piping components of a spool of piping components to be welded together, the tool comprising:
a spacer which is contained within a spacer plane for abutment between respective ends of the piping components; and
a pipe locator supported on each side of the spacer which projects outwardly from the spacer plane, transversely thereto, the pipe locator on one side of the spacer being substantially aligned with the pipe locator on the opposing side of the spacer.
The use of a planar spacer for abutment between respective ends of the pipes, which includes a pipe locator on each side thereof, can be readily held in place between the abutted pipes to ensure proper spacing therebetween while the pipe locators ensure that the pipes are concentrically aligned with another on opposing sides of the spacer. The tool as described is simple in construction while being readily used, quickly and easily by a person manually manipulating the piping components to be welded.
Each pipe locator may be arranged to engage partway about a periphery of a respective piping component.
Preferably, each pipe locator comprises a pair of projections spaced apart from one another and extending outwardly from the respective side of the spacer.
The projections on opposing sides of the spacer are preferably in respective alignment with one another.
In a preferred embodiment, the spacer spans the pair of projections on each side thereof and beyond the projections in the form of a flat plate member supporting the projections thereon.
In some instances, when the projections are generally cylindrical in shape, the projections on one side of the spacer may have a varying diameter than the projections on the opposing side of the spacer for the purposes of concentrically aligning piping components which have some slight variance in actual dimensions relative to one another. In normal use however, the projections would normally be aligned and have substantially identical dimensions on both sides of the spacer.
Preferably projections of each pair are adjustable in spacing relative to one another.
When the projections include an inner side for engaging a respective piping component which faces an inner edge of the spacer and an outer side opposite the inner side which faces an outer edge of the spacer, mounting of the projections is preferably arranged such that spacing from the inner edge of the spacer increases as spacing between the projections within each pair of projections increases.
The pipe locators are preferably secured to the spacer by threaded fasteners so as to be selectively separable and replaceable with different size pipe locators. The pipe locators on opposing sides of the spacer may be commonly mounted using the threaded fasteners.
The pipe locators on opposing sides of the spacer may project outward at different distances from the spacer to accommodate for flanges, curved piping components and the like. To accommodate most flanges and curved piping components, the pipe locator on at least one side of the spacer projects substantially perpendicularly outward from the spacer a distance which is generally between 10 millimeters (mm) and 14 mm from the spacer. Ideally the projections are at least 10 mm in length beyond the spacer surface for clearance of the bevelled edge commonly found at the end of piping components to be abutted against the spacer. Ensuring that the projections have a preferred maximum length of 14 mm, but ideally less than 12 mm, provides projections which will not interfere with the curvature of the outer side walls of most curved piping components and the varying outer dimensions of most flanges.
The spacer may have a thickness generally in the range between {fraction (1/16)} of an inch and {fraction (5/32)} of an inch, although a thickness in the range of {fraction (3/32)} of an inch to xe2x85x9 of an inch is preferred for proper spacing between the piping components to be welded.
According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provided a method of aligning two adjacent piping components of a spool of piping components to be welded together, the method comprising:
providing an alignment tool having a spacer which is contained within a spacer plane and pipe locators projecting outward from respective sides of the spacer transversely to the spacer plane, in respective alignment with one another;
abutting an end of a first piping component against one side of the spacer;
engaging a periphery of the first piping component with the respective pipe locator on the same side of the spacer;
abutting an end of a second piping component against the other side of the spacer;
aligning the second piping component concentrically with the first piping component by engaging a periphery of the second piping component with the respective pipe locator on the same side of the spacer.
Once the piping components are substantially concentrically aligned with one another at a point of abutment, the piping components can be tacked together at one location about the periphery by welding so that the tool is no longer required to be held in place. The piping components are then aligned to extend in proper longitudinal alignment with one another so that the longitudinal axes of the respective piping components are coincident with one another, at which point further tacking and welding of the piping components may be accomplished.
The piping components, when abutted in alignment with the tool, remain freely rotatable about a respective longitudinal axis in relation to each other. This is particularly useful, for example, for orienting the direction of a 90 degree curved piping component in relation to a straight pipe section while the piping components remain aligned for subsequent tacking and welding.
When the pipe locator on each side of the spacer comprises a pair of projections which extend outward from the spacer at spaced positions from one another, the method may include adjusting a spacing between the projections of each pair to accommodate varying diameters of piping components. More specifically, the method may include adjusting spacing between the projections of each pair within a range between a radius and a diameter of the piping components to be welded.
When the pipe locator on each side of the spacer comprises a pair of projections, the projections on one side of the spacer being concentrically aligned with respective projections on the other side of the spacer, the method may include increasing diameter of the projections on one side of the spacer in relation to the other side of the spacer when piping components to be welded which are designated as being the same size, have slightly different actual diameters.
When the pipe locator on one side of the spacer projects from the spacer a shorter distance than the pipe locator on an opposing side of the spacer, the method preferably includes abutting a flange, a curved piping component or some other piping component which is other than straight, against the side of the spacer having the pipe locator which projects the shortest distance from the spacer.